1. 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



371 



towns during the night ol January '''■ their approach was 

 heralded by short and long flashes — tin- dots and dashes of a 

 .1 code— bj which the aircraft maintained communication 

 with one another and, it is said, also were similarly guided upon 

 that occasion by spies posted on housetops, Be the latter as il 

 may. there is no doubl aboul thi existence of flashlight signal 



FURTHER FELICITATIONS ON OUR 2STH ANNI- 

 VERSARY. 



The Respirator for High \ltitude Flights in Dirigibles. 



equipments for German aeroplane pilots, and these have been oi 

 the utmost use both day and night from the very beginning oi 

 tile war. 



\ scouting pil' 'i — work would be greatly hampered it he had 

 to return to his base to tell the results of his observations, and 

 this i, especially so when helping hidden artillery to find the 

 range of the foe and to plant the projectiles just where they 

 could do the greatest execution. A short tune before hostilities 

 broke out, there was perfected in Berlin an electric signaling 

 mirror — in effect a new form of military heliograph by which 

 light flashes could be made by the aviator and similarly an- 

 swered by his friends on the ground. These flashes can be -ecu 

 night or clay foi a good many miles. 



Compactness and lightness were recognized essentials. The 

 electricity is stored in batteries carried in a knapsack which can 

 be strapped upon the pilot's hack, and sufficient energy can thus 

 be furnished for many hundred signals. All of the insulations 

 ;irc rubber. The signaling apparatus is composed essentially 

 of the following parts. — A reflector, an incandescent lamp of 

 high power, a focusing device for the lamp, a directing tube, or 

 aiming tube, and a switch controlling the lighting circuit. A 

 rubber eyepiece is attached to the aiming tube. 



The purpose of the aiming tube, which is also equipped with 

 lenses t" improve the scope of vision, is to enable the pilot to 

 ■ his light-beams with precision upon a chosen point and, 

 at the same time, to restrict the zone in which the flashes can 

 Ik -ecu. The way of working is decidedly simple. The opera- 

 tor looks through his tube and aims the lamp just as be would 

 a gun. and then he makes, by bis switch key, long and short 

 flashes agreeably to his code. The whole outfit, including thi 

 loes not weigh quite twelve pounds. 



It i- not ^alone in the directions we have already mentioned 

 that India-rubber is sharing in military aviation. The pilots of 

 seaplanes, which must rise from the water and return to thai 

 supporting medium from time to time, are protected from neck 

 to foot by a union-suit of rubber, and rubber clothing oi a 

 lesser scale is worn by all aviators. Again, the headguards that 

 all air pilots wen to protect the skull from fracture when fall 

 ing. owe their resilient virtue to thick ribs and bands of the 

 best of soft rubber. 



In shi rt without rubber aviation as a branch of military science 

 c< ist to exist. 



I 1 will be recalled that in our January issue we devoted sev- 

 ei.d pages to the reproduction of letters that had been 

 eived in this office from friends at home and abroad re- 

 ferring to the fact that this journal had completed 25 years 

 of continuous publication. A number of -very pleasant tributes 

 have been re< , ived since January. Two of these we reproduce 

 below, one from obi friends in Germany ami the other From 

 our ln-hl;, , si, rimd contemporary in France. The in 

 From Drs, Marckwald and Frank, the German chemists who-, 



work is familiar to everybody interested in the manufacture 

 of rubber. 



"In thi Ei i oi Tin. India Rubber World: 



"In the January number of The India Rubber World, which 



fell in t ir bands yesterday, we note thai on the first of 



January von were able to celebrate the 25th anniversary of 

 your publication. Although we are late, we do not wish to 

 let this go by without conveying to you our best wishes. \\ e 

 hope that the publication will continue to develop in the next 

 25 years under the same management. 



"( 'wing to political conditions we have not. in the last few 

 months, had an opportunity of communicating with you, but 

 we hope that with the end of this terrible war relations will 

 again lie established between the different nations and we 

 will be happy then to correspond more frequently with you 

 (Signed I "Dr. Eduard Marckwald. 



"Berlin, February 8, 1915." "Dr. Fritz Frank. 



The second pleasant reference to our 25th anniversary ap- 

 peared in the February issue of "Le Caoutchouc & la Gutta- 

 percha" : 



"In October last our excellent American contemporary reached 

 the 25th year of its existence. On that occasion its friends — 

 and they are innumerable — paid their compliments. Although 

 events have macie us very late, we do not wish to miss the op- 

 pi ii t unity. 



"The great American publication, under the masterly direction 

 of Mr. H. C. Pearson, deserves the admiration and the very best 

 wishes ,,f all its contemporaries. It would not be possible to 

 find a more agreeable confrere than Mr. Pearson, and his pub- 

 lication has a distinctive character which places it very high 

 in our esteem. This publication contains the greatest variety 

 of matter, presented in the best manner, without either dullness 

 or pedantry, and with just a touch of that delicious humoi 

 which is the heritage of Americans of culture and refinement. 



"Our best wishes to The India Rubber World! May it con 

 tin. io prosper under the able management of Mr. Pearson, to 

 whom we extend our compliments and heartiest congratu- 

 lations." 



PROPOSED RATE INCREASE ON TIRES. 



The tailroads are making efforts to increase the rat' 

 freight on shipments of pneumatic tires in carload lots, by trans- 

 ferring these from class three to class two of their rate sched- 

 ules. This change would mean an increase in freight charges 

 on tires over and above the five per cent, general increase con- 

 sented to by the Interstate Commerce Commission. 



lire manufacturers consider this additional increase as quite 

 uni. m. especially in view of the fact that tires have materially 

 decreased in value since the third class rating was fixed, and. 

 togethei wnli automobile manufacturers, they arc protesting 

 through the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. Mr. 

 J. S. Marvin, general traffic manager. National Automobile Cham- 

 bei - i ommerce, has taken up the matter with the railroads 



The transfer of pneumatics from third to second class would 

 apply only to transportation in the East, and would not affect 

 the rates west of Chicago. This transfer would mean an in- 

 crease from Xew York to Chicago of about 15 cents per hun- 

 nounds on shipments of carload lots 



